Animated advertising device for moving vehicles



E. A. GRAY AND L. CINORMAN. ANIMATED ADVERTISING DEVICE FOR MOVING VEHICLES.

APPLICATION FILED FEB. I7, I920.

Patented No 23, 1920.

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LZg/d (L V'orman LEY By ATTQR UNIT-ED- sT Tn-s, P TENTo Fi-cn EDwAnD A. RAY am) LLOYD d vest/ran, or s rocKroN, 'cnn ng 1 Anmn'rnn nnvnn'rrsme nnvrcn ron iviqvrne vnHIcn s.

T 0 all whom it may concern l Be it known that we, EDWARD A. GRAY-- and LLOYD O. NORMAN, citizens of the United States, residing at Stockton, in the county I "of San Joaquin, State of California, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Animated Advertising Devices for Moving Vehicles; and we do. declare the fol lowing to be a full, clear, and exact description of thesame, reference bemg hadto the accompanying drawings, and to the char-.

animated advertising devices, and particularly to a type adapted to. be placed on mov-;

ing vehicles of allkindswhich are usedfor passengers, and also oni. ferry-boats: and

' similar vessels.

The principal object I of the "invention is to provide a device, arranged incombina tion with an advertising card, poster, or'

other medium, which will cause the eye .to

- be attracted thereto and arrest the attention of the beholder with any changeof speed or movement of'.the"vehicle,'etc., in which the device is mounted.-

power, for its actuation, and hence when once lnstalled, 151110 longer a source of ex- .pense to the proprietor or the advertiser;-

-A further object of theinventionisfto produce a simple and inexpensive device, I and yet onewhich will be-exceedingly effective for the purposes for which it is; as signed."

These objects we accomplish by means .of such structure and relativearrangement of parts asvwill fully appear by a perusal of the following specification andclaims.

.. In the drawings similar characters 'of reference indicate corresponding parts in the several views,

Figure l'is a front elevation of card adapted to receive advertising matter there- 'on, and showing the outline ,of a'human face, the eyeballs of which-are arranged to;

move orshow animation.

Fig. 2 is a detached front elevation of the" actuating mechanism of the eyeballs.

' bottom ofthe lower tub s v I Specification of Letters Patent. Patented 0V- Application filed February 17, 1920. Serial 110.359.320 it the mounting of an advertising card pro- 7 vided with our improved animating feature,

in the usual'displ-ay rack provided in trains,"

street-cars and the like. a

Fig. 4: is a fragmentary rear perspective" partly broken out, of the actuating 'mecha nism,

Fig. 5 is a top plan view of the movableh thereon.

human face 2 is impressed on the card, said face having the eye-slots 3" out out.v

the card.

Our invention resides in the provision:

of automatically actuated-means'formaking mg matter printed or otherwise impressed.

Preferably atjone. end, the qlikeness'of a: i

card or poster adapted to receive advertis f i i it appear that saidface is animatedpin other words, the eyeballs are caused to'm oveback and forth in the-'eye -slots with a change of speed or relativedirection of; 'movement-- so that; it presents the same appearance'as a living person looking from side 'to side; This means conslstsof a pair of rigid of the vehicle'- in which the card islmou'nt'ed, I

members 4 preferably of woodysuitably spaced apart and positioned vertically the card 1,"beingsecured to theback-thereof by gluing or some similar methocli Spaced apart vertically and extending between the members 4" are a pair bimetallic tubes 5 provided 1 with slots firunning length wise thereof and facing each other a ver- 'tical plane,

Positioned between the tubes is a strip 7 I of metal or any suitable material'having'the representation of eyeballs 8' paint edforotherwise impressedthereon, the spacingof-these' V Y eyeballs-being the-same as that of the} eye will rub thereagains't.

Secured to the strip 7 or formed integral therewith as maybe desired, is amen piece i 9 having spaced lugs lO'on' both, top and] bottom, projecting into the slots 6, the lower ones of such lugspreferablyresting on an Positioned in thetubes aresteel balls 11,

p v g polished and perfectly round so that they Fig. 3 -is a fragmentaryend view showingtween each pair of lugs 10, which are so spaced that the balls will have a certain freedom of movement therebetween.

When the balls roll, they of ccurse carry the member 9 with them, and their travel is only limited by the length of the slots 10'.

In order to be able to adjust this length of travel so as to adapt the device for any spacing of the eye-slotsB and make one size and style of device universal for all conditions, the end members 4 are provided with plugs or stops 12- adapted to fit snugly into the tubes 5 to an extent such that when the end members are closeagainst the tubes, the

member 9 will have a movement which will be the least ever required.

Then by drawing the Inembersd apart, the movementpermitted the member 9 is increased. This adjustment is of course effected before the pieces a are secured to the car I It will alsobe evident that inasmuch as the tubesare not fixed on to the plugs; and besides are circular, they may be rotated on the plugs, thus moving the slots therein nearer or fartherfrom the card as the case may be, and likewise regulating the distance the strip 7 will be from the card. This is an essential feature, since the curvature of -car-roofs vary, and if'the slots were in a fixed position, in one case the strips would rub against'the card (when the curvature of the latter is excessive) or else would be so far away as to give a sunken appearance to the eyes which would be undesirable. The

most important thing however, is to prevent the strip from rubbing against the card,

since this would increase friction to a point i where the responsiveness of the strip to the movement ofthe vehicle would be retarded,

and it' would necessitate the use of heavy balls to move the same, which would mean a thlck and cumbersome'device. The actuating device may be made so small and give good results, that the card to x which it is attached may readily be placed inthe usual holding rack 13 of a street car or other vehicle. V a

The tubes 5 are to be positioned perfectly ;horizontal, when it will be apparent that any suddenrelative change of speedof the vehicle, such as when starting, throwing ferent faces having their eyes cut out, and adapted to be pasted over the original face from time to time, so as to relieve the monotony of a single'face all the time, and thus freshen up the advertisement displayed without actually changing it in any way.

While it is probable that we shall use a human oranimal face, since this is most readily adaptable for the purpose, we do not. wish to limitourselves to such since various other features expressing animation may be actuated in the same way.

From the foregoing description it will be readily seen that we have produced suchia device as substantially fulfils the object of the invention as setforth herein.

While this specification sets forth in del tail the present and preferred construction of the device still in practice such deviations from such detail may. be resorted to as do not form a departure from the spirit of the invention,-as defined by the appended claims.

I Having thUS dGSCIlbGCl' my invention what we claim as new and useful and desire to secure by Letters Patent is I 1.' An animated advertising device for moving vehiclescomprising in combination with a card carrying advertisingmatter and having the likeness of the face of'a living 95 being impressed thereon, the eye-slots being cut out through the card, a strip behind and adjacent the eye-slots having the representation of eyeballs thereon spaced proportions ately to'the slots, horizontal tubes support- 10.0 ing the strip and positioned: equally above and below the same, the latter being slidable therein for relative "and limited horizontal movement, balls in the tubesadaptedato en-i gage the strip and move the same in either 105,:

. ately to the slots, vertical lugs fixed on top and bottom of said strip, horizontal tubes. mountedon the card andprovided with horizontal slots through which-the lugs pass 1 and which guide the same, the strip being arranged for automatic horizontal ,movement relative to the tubes, and means whereby. the tubes may be turned to alter the lateral position of thexslotstherein, wheres by the. spacing of the strip from the-card .125

maybe adjustedm v. a 7 Y 3. Ananimated advertising device for moving vehicles comprising in combination with a card carrying advertisingmatter andhaving the likeness of the face of a living being impressed thereon, the eye-slots being being impressed thereon, the eye-slots being cut out through the card, a strip behind and adjacent the eye-slots having the representation of eyeballs thereon spaced proportionately to the slots, vertical lugs fixed on top and bottom of said strip, horizontal tubes mounted on the card and provided with horizontal slots through which the lugs pass and which guide the same, the strip being arranged for automatic horizontal movement relative to the tubes, and plugs fixed to the card at each end of the tubes, the lat ter being turnably mounted thereon.

4. An animated advertising device for moving vehicles comprising in combination with a card carrying advertising matter and having the likeness of the face of a living out out throuvh the card, a strip behind and adjacent the eye-slots'having the representation of eyeballs thereon spaced proportionately to the slots, vertical lugs fixed on top and bottom of said strip, horizontal tubes on the card and provided with horizontal adapted to bear simultaneously against the. upper and lower lugs to move the strip with a tilting movement of the card.

5. An animated advertising device for moving vehicles comprising in combination f with a card carrying advertising vmatter and having the likeness of the face of a living I being impressed thereon, the eye-slots being cut out'through the card, a strip behind and adjacent the eye-slots having the representation of eyeballs thereonspaced proportiorv ately to the slots, and means whereby the strip will be held in parallel and adjustablespacedrelation relative to the card irrespective of the angle of setting of the card, while allowing the strip freedom of horizontal movement relative thereto. s In testimony whereof we afiix our signatures. V

EDWARD AGRAY. 

